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| SFReader Forums > Book, Magazine, and eZine Publishers > Flashing Swords > Flashing Swords Issue #10 Discussion Thread | Forum Quick Jump
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crystalwizard
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Date Joined Nov 2006
Total Posts : 4588
| Posted 5/28/2008 11:39 AM (GMT -4) |   | Jaqhama said...
I didn't like the full sized add for ROTS on the back cover.
I think it would have been better utilised by mentioning what this issue of FS was about.
Especially as there's a full page advert for ROTS inside the last pages anyway.
Do I detect someone offering to help me write the text, and design the back cover, for the next issue? That's one of the things I always have problems with
Jaqhama said...
Interior layout was excellent except that the title for Jeff Parrish's story A Twist of the Knife was at the bottom of page 40 when it should have been at the top of page 41.
I'm guessing that was a Lulu printing mistake rather than an oversight on CW's part.
No, it wasn't lulu and it wasn't an oversight either. Through the entire magazine, there are a couple of lines of space under one story, then have the next one starts, rather than each item starting on a new page. That one did start a bit low, and I did give thought to it but decided to leave it as was. It is too low, however, so that won't happen again like that in the future. Remember, this is only the 3rd print issue of FS. Still tweaking the layout and getting a feel for what works best and what doesn't work so well.
I don't use Lulu to create the .pdfs with, I use Adobe. The people that gripe on the Lulu forums don't know enough about how distiller works with Word to prevent the problems they complain about.
Jaqhama said...
All in all I'd say that FS #10 was a top effort on the part of CW and everyone else who contributed to the production and publication thereof.
Congratulations to all.
Thanks :)
Jaqhama said...
Hey that Fix review...I thought the ending of my Wolves in the Forest story was pretty obvious?
Anyone else who's read it not clear on what happened at the end?
I believe I said something about that when I did line edits, remember? I still have no idea if that's the girl following him with the intention to kill him in his sleep, if that's the girl and she bound herself to him, if that's the girl and she's doing something else entirely or if that's a scout and they all managed to escape the fire anyway and now are silently gliding through the woods after him in preparation for an attack, or just what is going on. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Leaving stuff like that somewhat vague leaves a nice hook for a sequel. | | Back to Top | | |
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MysticWino
anarchist fringe monkey boddhisatva
Date Joined May 2007
Total Posts : 1565
| Posted 5/28/2008 2:58 PM (GMT -4) | |
crystalwizard said...
Jaqhama said...
I didn't like the full sized add for ROTS on the back cover.
I think it would have been better utilised by mentioning what this issue of FS was about.
Especially as there's a full page advert for ROTS inside the last pages anyway.
I agree with you. And I don't. Back cover blurbs are great if the book is ever going to be shelved, but pretty much insignificant in direct sales. No one sees the back cover until the book's been bought and delivered.
Do I detect someone offering to help me write the text, and design the back cover, for the next issue? That's one of the things I always have problems with
back covers are a bitch! Gyah! The only thing worse than doing the panel for a back cover is working with a committee to get it done. Maybe I just don't play well with others? Well . . . I think I'm pretty good at it, despite my above objection . . .
Jaqhama said...
Interior layout was excellent except that the title for Jeff Parrish's story A Twist of the Knife was at the bottom of page 40 when it should have been at the top of page 41.
I'm guessing that was a Lulu printing mistake rather than an oversight on CW's part.
No, it wasn't lulu and it wasn't an oversight either. Through the entire magazine, there are a couple of lines of space under one story, then have the next one starts, rather than each item starting on a new page. That one did start a bit low, and I did give thought to it but decided to leave it as was. It is too low, however, so that won't happen again like that in the future. Remember, this is only the 3rd print issue of FS. Still tweaking the layout and getting a feel for what works best and what doesn't work so well.
I don't use Lulu to create the .pdfs with, I use Adobe. The people that gripe on the Lulu forums don't know enough about how distiller works with Word to prevent the problems they complain about. I never use distiller with Word. Nearly every problem I've had with Word and pdfs is when I use distiller. If I go straight from the "Print" menu and choose Adobe, those really weird gremlin signs rarely if ever show up. It also takes less than half the time from the "Print" menu as it does from the Distiller button or menu. Also, I've gotten pretty good at tweaking pages of a pdf in Illustrator when necessary. Lot easier than harranguing Word and Acrobat . . .
Jaqhama said...
Hey that Fix review...I thought the ending of my Wolves in the Forest story was pretty obvious?
Anyone else who's read it not clear on what happened at the end I believe I said something about that when I did line edits, remember? I still have no idea if that's the girl following him with the intention to kill him in his sleep, if that's the girl and she bound herself to him, if that's the girl and she's doing something else entirely or if that's a scout and they all managed to escape the fire anyway and now are silently gliding through the woods after him in preparation for an attack, or just what is going on. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Leaving stuff like that somewhat vague leaves a nice hook for a sequel.
I absolutely loved the ambiguity of that ending! I'd even say that ending was enough to put two solid handholds on the first rung of the ladder marked as "literary" vs. "pulp". Um . . . but I'm really a fringemonkey drifting over from the literary side . . . thanks for the entertainment! All involved.
Read me in The Return of the Sword!
Blog: http://bitterhermit.wordpress.com
Buy wine: http://fringemonkey.org
Poetry Blog: http://fringemonkey.wordpress.com
"The schizophrenic is drowning in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight." --Joseph Campbell
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Jaqhama
Adventurer
Date Joined Oct 2007
Total Posts : 392
| Posted 5/29/2008 6:56 AM (GMT -4) | |
crystalwizard said...
Jaqhama said...
The end of Wolves in the Forest...
Jarn had merely knocked the blue eyed silver haired girl unconsious, not killed her.
At the end of the story, as darkness takes over the forest and he's walking away between the trees, the girl has transformed back into a silver haired wolf and is running in front of him.
"Ice blue eyes look back at him. He shrugs."
Why didn't he kill her?
Jarn is often a contradiction. Even to himself. So my next question then is, why doesn't she kill him? Or at least attack?
Why would she attempt to kill the man who has let her live?
Jarn wiped out her entire pack...so he's obviously capable of slaying her also if he has to.
She would realise this.
You can read some of my stories here: Swamp Story. Down South. Florida Haze.Wild Justice...
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MysticWino
anarchist fringe monkey boddhisatva
Date Joined May 2007
Total Posts : 1565
| Posted 5/29/2008 8:43 AM (GMT -4) | | Well, I was actually speaking of Adobe and ignoring lulu altogether. I've never used lulu myself, but may soon for ARCs.
I've had more difficulty with online pdf creators than with Distiller itself. Part of it seems to do with the server situation. Could it have something to do with the way the server parses the information as well as the usual gremlins in Distiller? Seriously, I've gotten some really wierd weasel farts from online pdf-ers.
crystalwizard said...>I never use distiller with Word. Nearly every problem I've had with Word and pdfs is when I use distiller. If I go >straight from the "Print" menu and choose Adobe, those really weird gremlin signs rarely if ever show up. Yes, but the Lulu pdf creator runs distiller and the problem that the Lulu users complain about is because they are using Lulu's pdf creator to create pdfs.
Apologies for the brief hijacking . . .
Read me in The Return of the Sword! Blog: http://bitterhermit.wordpress.com Buy wine: http://fringemonkey.org Poetry Blog: http://fringemonkey.wordpress.com
"The schizophrenic is drowning in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight." --Joseph Campbell
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MysticWino
anarchist fringe monkey boddhisatva
Date Joined May 2007
Total Posts : 1565
| Posted 5/29/2008 8:52 AM (GMT -4) | |
Jaqhama said...
crystalwizard said...
Jaqhama said...
The end of Wolves in the Forest...
Jarn had merely knocked the blue eyed silver haired girl unconsious, not killed her.
At the end of the story, as darkness takes over the forest and he's walking away between the trees, the girl has transformed back into a silver haired wolf and is running in front of him.
"Ice blue eyes look back at him. He shrugs."
Why didn't he kill her?
Jarn is often a contradiction. Even to himself. So my next question then is, why doesn't she kill him? Or at least attack?
Why would she attempt to kill the man who has let her live?
Jarn wiped out her entire pack...so he's obviously capable of slaying her also if he has to.
It's also basic dog psychology. He's alpha male now. He proved it. She may begrudge him that, but she'll still be his bitch sorry, couldn't resist. Anyway, she's only likely to turn on him if he shows weakness - unless the human in her falls in love with him. He is her best hope for survival, too. If he's willing to have her along, then she'd tag along because he's proven himself capable of helping her survive. And his virility/vitality makes him a viable mate. Survival of the species . . . Of course, the woman in her might just as easily turn once she has offspring. That human element is just so . . . unpredictable . . .
Read me in The Return of the Sword!
Blog: http://bitterhermit.wordpress.com
Buy wine: http://fringemonkey.org
Poetry Blog: http://fringemonkey.wordpress.com
"The schizophrenic is drowning in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight." --Joseph Campbell
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Jaqhama
Adventurer
Date Joined Oct 2007
Total Posts : 392
| Posted 5/29/2008 10:09 AM (GMT -4) | | |
Here's the scan of the NEL book, rear cover.
Shows the legend about the book itself, followed by two pics of other books in the series.
Plenty of room for one advertising pic and a blurb instead of two advertising cover pics.
(Edgar Rice Burroughs Warlord of Mars. NEL July 1973 edition.)
You can read some of my stories here:
Swamp Story. Down South. Florida Haze.Wild Justice...
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crystalwizard
Forum Moderator
Date Joined Nov 2006
Total Posts : 4588
| Posted 5/29/2008 10:31 AM (GMT -4) | | | | |
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Jaqhama
Adventurer
Date Joined Oct 2007
Total Posts : 392
| Posted 5/29/2008 12:41 PM (GMT -4) | |
crystalwizard said...Thanks, Kevin :)
By Jove they knew how to do book covers in those days.
It wasn't all half naked women. Many of the NEL ERB John Carter covers have athletic swordsmen and exotic backgrounds.
Warlord of Mars was the first sci-fi book I ever bought. In fact it was the first book I ever bought.Yes, that's the copy I scanned. 
You can read some of my stories here: Swamp Story. Down South. Florida Haze.Wild Justice...
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MysticWino
anarchist fringe monkey boddhisatva
Date Joined May 2007
Total Posts : 1565
| Posted 5/29/2008 1:17 PM (GMT -4) | |
WRONG PICTURES! Those are Venus covers, not Mars! That slays me! Two totally different ERB series . . .
Jaqhama said...
Here's the scan of the NEL book, rear cover.
Shows the legend about the book itself, followed by two pics of other books in the series.
Plenty of room for one advertising pic and a blurb instead of two advertising cover pics.
(Edgar Rice Burroughs Warlord of Mars. NEL July 1973 edition.)
Read me in The Return of the Sword!
Blog: http://bitterhermit.wordpress.com
Buy wine: http://fringemonkey.org
Poetry Blog: http://fringemonkey.wordpress.com
"The schizophrenic is drowning in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight." --Joseph Campbell
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